The Pleasures of an Eternal Nightmare

Chapter 10

Julie walked to K.C.'s cell and saw the guard unconscious on the floor. She drew her pistol and put her back to the wall. The door was shut but the lock was obviously busted. She reached for the knob and stopped to listen. Not a sound resonated from the door. She opened the door and searched the room with her pistol. K.C. was asleep on the edge of the bed, curled up to face the wall with Caroline facing back at him.

Julie put her pistol away and ripped the covers off of Caroline, careful not to wake K.C. up. She picked up Caroline and threw her out of the cell, waking Caroline before she hit the ground. Caroline scrambled to get up and prepared to fight.

When she saw who threw her, she lowered her fists and sighed. "You scared me, Julie," Caroline said as she stretched. "I thought you were that creepy rapist from cell 212."

"No, I'm worse," Julie said as she shut the cell door behind her. "What the Hell were you doing in his cell?"

"I had some questions," Caroline said as she leaned up against the wall, folding her arms as she did. "I wanted some answers so I talked to him about it. Unfortunately, he fell asleep before I could get everything out of him. He must've been awake for the past few days."

Julie shook her head and leaned against the same wall, putting her back against the cold concrete surface and using her right leg to balance the distance between the wall and her head. She pulled out a cigarette and tossed one to Caroline. "What did he tell you?"

Caroline put the cigarette in her mouth and leaned forward as Julie lit it up for her. "He told me he killed some old teacher because of a hostage situation and that you were investigating this kid named Marker or some shit because he could be related."

"I thought he was related but he's only related because of speculation," Julie said as she lit her own cigarette. She took a moment to breathe in the cigarette before letting out a long puff of smoke that traveled in a long straight line before curling just three feet away. "He's completely innocent."

"That's what the kid said," Caroline said as she pulled the cigarette out of her mouth. "He told me Marker was just a prankster who was accused of all the murders because of the sudden fake suicides of his friends."

Julie looked over at Caroline in confusion. "How did he know this?"

Caroline shrugged. "He said it was all rumors and stories and shit. Nothing I haven't heard of." She took another whiff of the cigarette and tried to blow out a circle, only to get an awkward oval. She frowned and looked down at her cigarette. "He started talking about how Marker's fifth friend died and how Marker became lonely before he passed out. Just before I fell asleep he started whispering some numbers like some kind of robot."

Julie coughed on her cigarette smoke and dropped the cigarette. As soon as all the smoke was out of her throat, she looked over at Caroline and grabbed her shoulders. "What kind of numbers!?"

Caroline shrugged. "Just some weird numbers. I memorized them in case you knew something about it."

Julie pulled out her notepad and handed it to Caroline. "Write the numbers here. They might be important."

Caroline took the notepad and started scribbling the numbers. "What do the numbers mean?"

"They're a code K.C. and his best friend use to communicate to each other," Julie explained. "If decoded correctly, they accurately show what K.C. is feeling or knows."

Caroline finished the string of numbers and handed them to Julie. "What do they mean?"

Julie studied the numbers and started translating them under their respected numbers. When she finished, she frowned and threw her pen at the wall in frustration. "What the Hell does that mean!?"